Dmitry Medvedev says Vladimir Putin should run for president in 2011

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposes that Vladimir Putin run in next
year's presidential election, signalling they have agreed the prime minister
will return to the post he held for eight years until 2008.

2:37PM BST 24 Sep 2011

Prime Minister first addressed delegates at United Russia's party congress, setting the scene for the main announcement, by naming Mr Medvedev as head of United Russia's parliamentary election campaign.

The Russian President then took the stage and agreed that he would head its list of candidates in the parliamentary poll on 4 December, indicating that he could enter the government after the elections.

The announcement followed months of speculation over whether Putin, 58, or Medvedev, 46, will be president next year.

Although Putin did not immediately say whether he would accept, Mr Medvedev's comments made clear they have agreed that he will run.

"Ahead of us we have a task of enormous scale. We have to build an innovative economy, strengthen democratic institutions. But if we really want to achieve success, at the centre of our attention must always be the citizen of Russia," Mr Putin told delegates as he took the stage again.

Medvedev's decision to accept a proposal to lead United Russia's list of candidates into the election to the State Duma lower house on4 December indicated the president is preparing to take another role in government or parliament.

Mr Putin was president from 2000 to 2008 but steered Medvedev into the Kremlin in 2008 because he was barred from a third successive term by the constitution.